The Clippers’ Patrick Beverley and company were no match for the Warriors’ Kevin Durant in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series on Friday night at Staples Center. Durant scored 50 points (38 by halftime) in Golden State’s series-clinching 129-110 win. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

LOS ANGELES — At a certain point, Patrick Beverley was out of answers.

He turned the question around: How would you have tried to guard Kevin Durant better?

“We didn’t say, ‘Man, c’mon, give us 50 tonight.’ Course not,” Beverley said. “He’s a hell of a player. The shots he took, he made some tough shots. If you were the coach what would you tell us to do?”

The Clippers point guard let his question hang in the room, packed with more than five dozen media members. There was only silence.

There was no way to stop Durant on Friday night, as he cruised to 50 points in a series-clinching 129-110 victory – the kind of win most expected Golden State to have against the outgunned Clippers throughout the series.

But on the heels of upstart victories in Game 2 and Game 5 in Oakland, the Warriors realized almost nothing would come easily in a surprisingly tough six-game series. Capping one of his best series for Golden State with a new career playoff high, Durant proved to be the trump card.

Lou Williams ruminated: “We tried everything.” When Durant’s at his best, there is no answer.

“He’s the ultimate weapon, because there’s no defense for Kevin,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “No matter what anybody does, he can get a good shot. And he knew we needed him badly.”

There are few secrets when it comes to Durant. There might not be a comparable player in NBA history with his 7-foot height, his 7-foot-5 wingspan, his guard-like handle and his feathery touch. As the Clippers attempted to counter his mobility with smaller defenders like Beverley, he simply found ways to shoot over the competition.

But even though teams understand what’s coming for them, the full arsenal is something to behold: Durant started rolling early, running into jumpers off screens, beating the defense in transition for dunks, twisting to his left for fallaway mid-range shots. He also was fouled, visiting the line for 15 total free throws (he hit 14).

What made him even more lethal were the 3-pointers: Durant hit four of them in the first half, in a 12 for 17 start from the field overall for 38 points before intermission. It’s the second-most points anyone has ever scored in one half a playoff game – lending credence to Kerr’s lofty claim that Durant authored “one of the great performances I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Durant was less definitive, saying he felt he could have made a few more shots.

“I just keep on humming no matter what,” he said. “I just play my game through it all.”

Kerr said the Clippers pushed the Warriors to play their best by the end of the series, and Durant was no exception. After a quiet Game 2 in a 31-point meltdown that allowed a Clippers comeback, Durant came out the next game and scored 38. For the last four games of the series, Durant averaged 41.5 points per game, taking more shots and carrying the load offensively for one of the most talented teams in NBA history.

Once the series was over, several of the Clippers felt free to express their awe of Durant’s mastery on the offensive end – Lou Williams, himself a scoring wizard, said he was amazed by Durant’s Game 3 performance in the wake of withering criticism.

“Even the game that he came out, and was like, ‘I’m Kevin Durant. Y’all know who I am,’ ” Williams said. “That’s a bold statement to make when you’re about to see some guys that’s extremely competitive. And he came out that game, and he said, ‘I can really shoot over these guys.’ And he did it. So it wasn’t lack of effort on our part. He’s an all-world professional, and he proved himself.”

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